Excavating-machine.



L. C. WOOD.

BXGAVATING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED Amma, 1910.

Patented Mar. 21, 1911.-

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

L. C. WOOD.

EXGAVATING MACHINE.

APPLIUATION FILED APBJG. 1910.

lPatented Mar. 21, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

g1/mentor L. C. WOOD.

EXGAVATING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED Amma, 1910.

987,660, Patented Mar. 21, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

- osmaeo.

anni osato.

LEONARD C. WOOD, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

nxcAvATING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patienten Mar. "ai, ieri.

Application led April 16` 1910. Serial No. 555,817.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEONARD C. VVooD, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city and county of Denver and State of Colo# y l rado,have invented certain new and useful Improvements inExcavating-lslachines;l and I do declare the .following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the inven-I tion, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it apperta-ins to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters and figures of reference marked thereon, which forma part ofthis specification.. u

'My invention relates to excavating machines, more especially adapted tobe emP ployed in street grading, and which maybe vvemployed for generalpurposesof excavattion of the vehicle, in which event the power v whichnormally serves /to move the vehicle forward, acts upon the bucket, byvirtue of the principle ofexerting itself in the line of the leastresistance, and causes the bucket with itslo'ad to 4travel upwardlythrough a suitable track, and automatically dump itself when it hasreached the desired elevation. Below the bucket, and adapted to rebeunderstood that the power which is oo nnected with the excavator,continues to.'act until the'bucket has reached its upperlimit oflmovement, when' itis released, the lcable being allowed to slackenduring -the 'rearward or return movement of the bncket.

Having briefly outlined 'my :improved construction, I will proceed todescribe the same in detail, reference being made t0 the .aecoinpanyingdrawings, in which is illustrated an embodiment thereof.

In these drawings: Figure 1 is a 'side elel vation of my improvedmachine. Fig. 2 is a i tion o f the machine shown on a larger scale. IThis 1s a section taken on the line 2 2 of I F1g. 4. Fig. 3 is a topplan view of the construction, on approximately the same scale i asshown i plan view of the rear portion of\the machine l shown `on alarger scale. Fig. 5 is a front end elevation of the machine shownpartly in /sectiom'and 'on a' larger scale than in Figs. 1`

and 3. Fig. 6 is a detail view of the mecha- 70 nism, for interlockingthe bucket carriage with theframewor'k ofthe vehicle.

The same reference characters, indicate the v same parts in all theviews. i f

Let the numeral 5 designate the ,frame- 75. work or body of the vehicle,lwhich as illus .trated in the drawings, includes two parallel side bars6 connected at their forward extremities by aI yoke 7, and at their reareX- `renfiities by a transverse angular ,frame Mountedabove the vehicleframe and having its rear portion resting directly thereon, is a track9, composed of separated channel bars l0 whose rear portion 12 isparallel 85 with the vehicle frame. From the lforward lextremity of thisrear portion, the track eX-' tends upwardly, constituting the curvedmember 18 of the track, the opposite side 'bars being supported at"suitable intervals 9.0 by posts 14, 15, and 16 mounted on the vehicleframe, their upper extremities being secured to the outer mir-faces ofthe trackf members. ,Normally v occupying a position in the rear portion412 of this track, 1s 'a car- 95 riage 17 composed of two parallel sidebars 18 connected by a spider Jplate 19, having four radial arms 2Oextending from the central portion of the plate, their outerextremifurther strengthen the frame which is mounted on the wheels 28,engagingsthe l lower flanges 24 of the channel members of the carriagetrack. y

Secured tothe side members 18 of the car` fragmentary sectional view ofthe rear pol- 6o Y in` Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is afragmentary 65 ties beingsecured to the bars of the carriage 10o ariege frame, are; dependingVaiheped vDret/tif. ll@

lla

ets 4, upon which are trunnions 25, upon vnear its rear extremity.

which the bucket 26'is pivotally mounted The forward extremity of thebucket is supported by latches 27, one oneach side and pivotallyconnected with the bell crank lever 31 as shown at 28. The upper portionof each of these rods is slotted Aas shown at 29 to receiveithe fulcrumpinf30 of a bell-crank lever 31. One arm of this lever is connected withthe latch by the vpivot pin 28, while its opposite arm 32 is connectedas shown at 33 with a rod 34 carrying a coils ring 35 which engages astop 36 fastened to t e carriage frame, and an adjustable stop 27mounted on the rod. The stop 36 is provided with an eye through whichtherod passes. By virtue of its construction and arrangement, thetension of the spring 35 has a tendency to move the rod 34 rearwardly,andby its peculiar action on the bell-crank lever, serves to maintainthe latch in its interlocking relation with the bucket. T he rearextremity of the rod 34 is bent sligptly downward as shown at 38, andnorma y engages the forward extremity yof a latch 39, whose forward endrests upon a pin 40, mounted on the carriage frame. The

' rear portion of the latch 39 is pivoted on the frame at 41. The rearend of this latch is provided with a hook 42, which normall interloekswith a hook 43, formed on the orward j extremity offa latch 44,pivotally connected with the, framework'of the vehicle, as shown at 45.As the bucket enters the earth, the pull incident to such action actsupon the latch 27through the bell-crank lever' 31 to" pull the rod 34forwardly against the tension of its spring 35, suiiiciently to releasethe rear extremity 38 of the said rod from the forward extremity of thelatch 39, thus allowing the latter to swing on its fulcrum 4l, under thepull of the latch 44, to the dot` ted line position, whereby it isdisengaged from the holding latch 44, connected with the vehicle frame,as aforesaid.

To the forward rrod22, of the bucket-4 carriage, are connected as shownat 47, two cables 46, which pass under a guide roller 48, and thenceupwardly over the guide pulleys 49 mounted on the upper part of thetrack 9 These cables after passing over the guide pulleys, extenddownwardly and pass around the drums 50, mounted upon a shaft 51, andpass thence under the guide pulleys cable 57 which leads rearwardly tolaf drum 58, fast on a shaft 59, journaled in bearings 60, mounted on,the rear extremity of the vehicle frame. On each en'd of the shaft 59,

is mounted and made fast a small drum 61.

its rear extremity engaging a stop at the rear end of the tube on thecasing 64. During the forward movement of the bucket-carriage, the.cable 57 is unwound from the drum 58, While the cables 62 are wound uponthe drum 61, and during thisoperation it is evident that thespringcompressing pistons 65 will be moved rearwardly, whereby thesprings 63 are placed under tensio-n. When the bucket-carriage reachesits upper limit of movement, the latches 27 are caused to engage a stoprod 66, above the lower extremity of the latches, whereby the latter aredisengaged from the 4forward extremity of the bucket, which in thatevent, turns aipon its trunnions to the dumping position, indicated bythe dotted lines in- Fig. 1. As soon as this occurs, the power cable 56is released at the engine (not shown), whereby the recoillof thesprings63 acts to reverse the movement of the bucket-carriage, wherebythe latter is caused to move downwardly in the track 10 to its originalposition, its latch 39 automatically engaging its companion latch l44,whereby the carriage is again locked at its rearward limit of movementduring the return' movement of the bucketcarriage down theinclinedtrack, the latch 27 is tilted toward the bucket and the bucketis tilted into engagement with the latchby the ground before thecarriage enters upon the horizontal portion of the track. After thebucket has reached its upper limit of movement, as heretofore explained,its contents are discharged on a transversely arrangedl conveyer belt67, mounted upon a frame 68, the outer edges of the .belt being equippedwith sprocket chains 69, engaging centrally located sprocket wheels 70,mount ed on a shaft 71, which is actuated through the medium of gears 72and 73, the gear being fast on the shaft 71 and the gear 73 l fast onthe transverse shaft 51, carrying the drums 50.

Mounted on thevehicle frame forward-of Y the bucket, is a series ofplows 74, each ofwhich is provided with a forwardly extend-'f1 ing arm75, movably connected as shownfat 76 with a V-shaped beam 77. Connectedvwith the rear portion of each plow, as shown' at 7 8, isa chain 79: Thechains of the series of plows pass upwardly over the roller `80` uponwhich they are adapted to wind for the purpose of raisingthemwhiletraveling from place to place when the machine is not in use.Upon one extremity of theroller or windlass 80, is a hand-crank 81 tofacilitate the raising and lowerin of the plows. On' the opposite end oft e roller isa ratchet wheel 82 with which a pawl 83,

mounted on the framework, cooperates for the purpose of maintaining theroller andy riage-trackare located two buers 84, composed of springs 85,engaging abutments 86, mountedon the cross-bar 8. The forwardextremities of these buffers are provided with disks orfcaps 87, forminga bearing surface for the rear portion of the carriage, when at'itsrearward limit of movement.

From the foregoing description the use and operation of my improvedexcavator will be readily understood. It must be assumed that an engineor suitable source of power (not shown), is located or stationed at asuitable point in front of the machine. The power cable 56 is connectedwith this engine and the machine is drawn forwardly a suitable distance.During this forward movement the plows loosen the ground in front of thebucket. During this time the bucket-carriage remains relativelystationary upon the traveling vehicle. As soon, however, as t-he bucketenters the earth, the downward pull, incident to such enga-gement, actsupon the latch 27, with suflicient t'orce to operate the bell-cranklever 31, which acts on the rod 34,1and moves the latter forwardsufficiently to disengage its rearz`r` extremity from the latch 39,allowing the latter to assume the position shown in dotted lines (seeFig. 6), whereby the bucketcarriage is released from the vehicle frame.The pull upon the cable 56-now ceases to move the vehicle, and actsuponthe bucketcarria e, since the latter aords less resistance t an theentire vehicle, with the result that the bucket-carriage moves forwardlyto the upper extremity of the track 13, where the latches 27 aredisengaged from the forward end of the bucket by virtue of theirengagement with the stop rod or bearing 66. rllhe front end of thebucket then moves downwardly allowing its contents to fall upon thetransversely arranged conveyerbelt 67. It will be understood that duringthe forward travel of the bucket and its car-I riage, the conveyer beltis actuated by virtue of the engagement of the cables 46 with the drums50 on the shaft 51, motion bein communicated to the belt through thelnstrumentality of the gears 73, and 72. Now, as soon as the bucket hasdischarged its contents on the belt, the cable 56 is released, andtherecoil of the springs 63 acts upon the bucket-carriage to return thelatter to its normal position, whereby it is again locked upon thevehicle frame, through the medium of thelatches 39 and 44, as heretoforeexplained. During the rearward travel of the bucket-carriage, theconveyer belt is actuated, throu h the medium of the connections heretoore explained, suiciently to discharge the dirt carried thereby at oneside of the machine.

The forward :extremity of the machine is provided with a levelingbolster 88, pivotally connected as shown at 89 with the for- Ward axle90 of the running gear of the vehicle. Threaded in each extremity of thebolsteris a screw 91, whose lower extremity engages the axle, thusmaking it practicable to accurately level the bolster. Journaled in thecentral portion of this bolster, is a screw 92 threaded in a nut 93,mounted in the framework of the structure. The upper extremity of thisscrew is journaled in the yoke 7, as shown at 94. The screw is providedwith an operating hand wheel 95, y

which passes through an opening 96 formed -in the yoke, and protrudes onboth sides thereof to facilitate manipulation. This hand wheel issplined on the screw shaft to allow it to travel upwardly and downwardlyif necessary. The function of this screw shaft is to raise and lowervthe body or framework of the vehicle, with reference to the runnin gearthereof.

Having t us described my invention, what I claim 1s:

1. The combination with a vehicle, of a bucket normally locked againstmovement in relation to the vehicle when at its rearward limit ofmovement, means connected with the bucket aind vehicle for impartingforward travel to the latter, and means for releasing the bucket toallow it to travel independently of the vehicle-f 2. In an excavator,the combination with a vehicle, of a carriage normally locked thereon, abucket trunnioned on the carriage, a track for said carriage mounted onthe vehicle and extending forwardly and upwardly from the rear portionthereof, a cable having one extremity connected with the vehicle and theother extremity connected with the bucket carriage, means for applyingpower to the cable intermediate its extremities, the cable being free totravel on said means, and an operative connection between the bucket andthe means for locking the bucket upon the vehicle, wherebyas the bucketenters the earth the downward pull upon its lower portiony will releasethe carriagevand allow the latter to travel forwardly and upwardly inits track in relation to the vehicle while the latter ceases to move.

3. In an excavator, the combination of a suitable framework mounted onwheels and including a track extending upwardly from the rea-r portionof the structure and terminating at an elevated point at its forwardextremity, a carriage constructed to travel on said track, a buckettrunnioned on the carriage, means for normally locking the carriage onthe framework of the structure, a connection between the bucket and thelocking mechanism, whereby the downward pull on the bucketresulting fromthe latters entering the earth will release the carriage, a cableconnected with the carriage at oneextremity and with the framework ofthe structure at the other extremity, a traveling device engaging thecable intermediate its extremities and connected with suitable power foroperating purposes, whereby as the power is applied to the travelingdevice the structure will be moved bodily in the first instance, afterwhich the carriage will be automatically released through the agency ofthe bucket and allowed to travel forwardly and upwardly in its track inrelation to the vehicle or while the latter remains stationary.

4. The combination of' a vehicle, including a carriage track extendingforwardly and upwardly, a carriage adapted to travel on said track, thecarriage being normally locked against travel in relation to thevehicle, a flexible device connected with the bucket carriage at oneextremity and with the body of the vehicle at its opposite extremity, atraveling devicet engaging the cable intermediate its extremities andcon- Ynected with suitable power for operating the machine, a buckettrunnioned on the carriage, and an operative connection between thebucket and the carriage locking device, whereby as the bucket enters theearth the carriage is automatically released and allowed to travelforwardly on its track independently of the travel of the vehicle,substantially as described.

5. The combination of a vehicle, having a framework thereon, including acarriage track extending forwardly and upwardly from the rear portion ofthe vehicle, a carriage adapted to travel on said track, means fornormally lockirE' the carriage against travel in relation to thevehicle, a bucket trunnioned on the carriage, a flexible deviceconnected with the bucket carriage at one extremity and with the body ofthe vehicle at its opposite extremity, an antifrictional device engagingthe cable between its two points of connection and connected with powerfor operating purposes, and an operativevconnection between the bucketand the carriage-locking means for automatically releasing the carriage,substantially as described.

6. The combination of a vehicle having a body, including a carriagetrack extending forwardly and upwardly, a carriage adapted to travel onsaid track, a bucket trunnioned on the' carriage, means for normallylocking applying p the carriage against travel in relation to thevehicle, an operative connection between the bucket and said lockingmechanism for automatically releasing the carriage, a flexible deviceconnected at one extremity with the bucket carriage and at its oppositeextremity with the body of the vehicle, and means for ower to the cableintermediate its extremities whereby the vehicle is initially movedbodily until the action of the bucket releases' the carriage.

7. In an excavator, the combination of a vehicle having a trackextending upwardly and forwardly from the rear portion thereof, acarriage mounted to travel on said track, means for normally' lockingthe carriage against travel on the track in relation to the vehicle, abucket trunnioned on the carriage, a power cable connected at oneextremity with the carriage and at its opposite extremity with the bodyof the vehicle, means for applying power to said cable intermediate.lits extremities and an operative connection between the bucket and thecarriage locking, mechanism. whereby the latter is automaticallyreleased after the vehicle has reached its forward limit of movement,and the bucket brought into engagement with the material to be handled.

8. The combination of a vehicle having a body, including a carriagetrack extending upwardly and forwardly from the rear portion thereof, acarriage adapted to travel on said track and normally spring-retained atits rearward limit of movement, means for locking the carriage againsttravel on the track when in its normal position, abbucket trunnioned onthe carriage, a flexible device connected at one extremity `with thebucket carriage and at its op osite extremity with the\body of the vehice, means for applying power toi said cable intermediate its extremitieswhereby the vehicle is initially caused to travel bodily, and anoperative connection between the bucket and the carriage-lockingmechanism for automatically releasing the carriage when the initialtravel of the vehicle has been sufficient to bring the bucket intoengagement with the mate-- rial to be handled.

9. The combination of a vehicle having a body member including acarriage track extending upwardly and forwardly from the rear portionthereof, a bucket trunnioned on said track, means for normally lockingthe carriage against movement on the track in relation to the vehicle, acable connected with the carriage at one extremity and with the body ofthe vehicle at its opposite extremity, means for applying power to thecable intermediate its extremities, -a latch pivotally connected withthe carriage at its upper extremity and engaging the bucket at its lowerextremity` and an operative connection between said latch and thecarriageisp locking mechanism, whereby as the bucket is subjected to adownward pull by its engagement with the material to be handled, thecarriage locking mechanism is automatically released, whereby theoperating power is exerted on the carriage and the latter carriedforwardly and upwardly on its track, and means for automaticallydisengaging the bucket latch as the carriage reaches its predeterminedlimit of upward travel, allowing the bucket to swing downwardly fordumping purposes, substantially as described.

l0. The combination of a vehicle, having a carriage track mountedthereon, acable connected with the carriage from the rear and normallyspring-actuated to hold the carriage at its rearward limit of movement,means for locking the carriage on its track against movementin relationto the vehicle,

a bucketI trunnioned on the carriage, a latch pivotally connected withthe carriage and engaging the forward portion of the bucket forsupporting the latter in position to be filled, aniperative connectionbetween the said latch and the carriage-locking mechanism, forautomaticallyreleasing' the carriage when the bucket has entered theearth incident to its travel with the vehicle, and means located at theupper extremity of the carriage track for releasing the latch from thebucket and allowing the latter to dump, a .transversely arrangedconveyer mounted on the body of the vehicle to receive the contents ofthe bucket, a cable having one extremity connected with the carriage,and its other extremity connected with the body of the vehicle, andmeans for applying power to the cable intermediate its extremitieswhereby the vehicle is initially moved bodily until the carriage isreleased, and an operative connection between the conveyer and thecable, whereby the conveyer is operated during the movement of thecarriage, substantially as described.

11. An excavator, comprising A.a vehicle equipped with means forloosening the earth, a bucket located in`the rear. of the earthlooseningmeans, the vehicle being also equipped with a track upon which thebucket is adapted to travel, means for normally locking the bucketagainst travel independ'- ently of the vehicle, a flexible deviceconnect-- ed at one extremity with the bucket and at its oppositeextremity 'with the body of the vehicle, means for applying power to thecable intermediate its extremities. and means actuated by the bucket asit enters the earth for automatically releasing the latter and allowingit to travel on its track in relation to the vehicle, substantially asdescribed.

12. The combination of a vehicle. having a track, a carriage arranged totravel on the track and having a bucket trunnioned thereon, means fornormally locking the bucket` carriage against travel on the track, aflexible device connected with the bucket carriage at one extremity andwith the vehicle body "at its opposite extremity, means for applyingpower to the exible device intermediate its extremities, and meansactuated from the bucket for automatically releasing the bucketcarriage-locking mechanism to allow the carriage to move forwardly onits track in response to the pull of the cable, substantially asdescribed.

13. An excavator, comprising a vehicle having a track mounted thereonand carrying earth-loosening means, a bucket located in the rear of theearth-loosening means, a carriage for the bucket adapted to travel onthe said track,-the carriage being normally spring-held at the rearwardextremity of the track, means for normally locking thecar'riage at therear extremity' of the track, a cable connected with the carriage at oneextremity and with the body of the vehicle at its opposite extremity,means for applying power to thecable intermediate its extremities, and aconnection between the bucket and the carriage-locking mechanism forautomaticallyreleasing the carriage as the bucket enters the earth,whereby the bucket and its carriage are caused to travel forwardly onthe track, and means for automatically dumping the bucket when it hasreached its forward limit of track movement, substantially as described.

14.'An excavator, comprising a vehicle having a track, a bucket, acarriage upon which the bucket is mounted, the carriage being normallyheld against,movement 011 the rear end of the track and adapted totravel on the track when released, a cable connected at one extremitywith the carriage and at its opposite extremity with Jhe vehicle body,means for applyiiyfJ power to the cable intermediate its `titremities,the cable being free to travel on the powerap plying device, and meansoperated from the bucket as the latter enters the earth forautomatically releasing the carriage from the track, substantially asdescribed.

15.` The' combination of a vehicle having a carriage track, coil-springsmounted on opposite sides of the vehicle, a carriage mounted on thevehicle to travel on said track, cables connected at their forwardextremities with pistons serving to compress the springs in response toa rearward pull on the cables, drums mounted on the rear extremity ofthe vehicle with which the spring-compressing cables are connected, anoperative connection between the carriage and the said cables, wherebyas the carriage moves forwardly the cables are wound on the drums tocompress the said springs, a bucket mounted on the carriage, means fornormally locking the carriage against movement on its track, meansconnected with the lockingv mechaerted through the line of leastresistance to I with earth, a flexible device connected at one nism forreleasing the carriage, and means l hicle body remains stationary,substantially connected with the vehicle and with the cari riage formoving the carriage forwardly on 5 its track while the vehicle remainsstationary after the carriage is released, substantially i as described.l

16. An excavator, comprising a vehicle having a carrie track, a carriagemounted to travel on aai track, a bucket mounted on l the carriage,means for locking the carriage 1` against movement on its track, anoperative connection between the bucket and the carriage-lockingmechanism for automatically releasing the carriage as the bucket fillsextremity with the carriage and at its opposite extremity with thevehicle, and means for applying power to the flexible deviceintermediate its extremities, whereby the vehicle is initially actuatedbut as soon as the oucket carriage is released the power is exmove thecarriage forwardly on its track, substantially as described.

17. An excavator comprising a vehicle, having a track, a scraper-bucket,al carriage upon which the bucket is mounted, the carriage being adaptedto travel on the track but normally locked against movement, a cableconnected at one extremity with tlie carriage and at its oppositeextremity with the vehicle body, means for applying power to the cableintermediate its extremities, the cable being free to travel on thepower a plying device, and means for releasing tllie carriage to allowthe cable to actuateithe carriage and bucket-scraper while the ve; hiclebody remains stationary, substantially as described.

18. An excavator comprising a vehicle, having a track, a scraper-bucketmounted t0 travel on the track, but normally locked against action, acable connected at one extremity with the scraper-bucket and at itsopposite extremity with the vehicle body, means for applying power tothe cable intermedlate its extremlties, the cable being free to travelon the power-applying device, and means for releasing the scraper-bucketto allow it to move forward on the track in response to the pull of thecable while the ve-l as described.

19. An excavator comprising a vehicle having a track, a scraper-bucketadapted to travel on the track, but normally locked against movement. atlthe rearextremity of the track, a cable connected at one extremity withthe scraper-bucket and at its opposite extremity with the vehicle body,means for applying power to the cable intermediate its extremities forthe purpose of imparting initial travel` to the vehiclebody, the cablebeing free to travel on the power-applying device, means for releasingthe scraper bucket to allow it to travel forwardly on the track, andmeans lfor automatically returning the scraper-bucket to its normalrearward posi tion, substantially as described. 20. An excavatorcomprising a vehicle having a track, a scraper-bucket mounted to ltravel on the track, but normally locked against movement in relation tothe vehicleA at the rear extremity of the track, a cable connected atone extremity with the scraper'- bucket and at its opposlte extremitywith the vehicle body, means for applying power to the cableintermediate its extremities to impart initial travel to the vehiclebody,the cable being free to run on the power apply ing device, meansfor Iautomatically releas-- ing the scraper-bucket as the latter enters'the earth to be handled, whereby the bucket is allowed to travelforwardly on the track, and means for 'automatically returning thescraper-bucket to its normal position, for the purpose set forth. v

21. An excavator comprising a vehicle having a track, a scraper bucketmounted to travel on the track, but normally locked against movement inrelation to the vehicle, a cable connected with the scraper bucket andwith the vehicle body, means for apply ing. power to the cable to impartinitial travel to the vehicle body, and means for re- .'leasing thescraper bucket.

LEONARD O. WOOD Witnesses A. J. OBRIEN, ELIZABETH BOWEN.

